This year the EDA will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary.
At our Annual Convention in Vienna (June 7-9) I will hand over the Presidential Chain of Office to my good friend Francisco (Paco) Cobo.
At times of such milestones it is natural, in fact, important, to reflect.
As the saying goes “You cannot really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”
Since 1978 the EDA has grown to become the leading platform for National Demolition Associations across Europe. Eleven National Associations, representing nearly 1000 Demolition Companies, actively take part in EDA events in order to discuss and tackle Industry Specific Topics, Network with Suppliers and to get to know the latest industry techniques and technology.
When people ask “how did you get into demolition?” my response is, like a great many in our industry, “Family!”
As a Fourth Generation member of a family that has been actively involved in the Demolition Industry over the past century, I literally grew up in the industry and grew up in the EDA!
My Father, David Sinclair is a Past President of the EDA, and I remember attending EDA Conventions as a teenager in the 1980’s.
One Convention – in fact – one presentation at the EDA Convention was particularly memorable. It was in Dublin in the late 80’s and the respected Explosives Engineer, Walter Werner, gave a presentation on blasting.
When most presentations at conferences emphasise the success of a project, Walter’s presentation was all about “Blasting – When it all goes Wrong”.
Through this presentation, Walter shared his experiences with the audience, pointing out why certain blasting techniques had failed and what lessons he had learned from his experience.
I remember Walter (In his perfect English) stating “Intelligent Contractors only make the same mistake once!”
It was in this spirit and willingness to share experiences, both good and bad, that as a teenager, I first appreciated the benefits of being part of the EDA – Part of the Demolition Family.
Looking to the future, and in particular to the EDA Demolition and Decontamination Annual Convention in Vienna, we have a fantastic range of topics and case studies scheduled for our professional programme. Industry topics such as Training, The Circular Economy, Safety and Identification of Materials are all on the agenda.
We also have a variety of International Case Studies, from Urban Demolition in Germany to Nuclear Decommissioning, to Decontamination of Petrochemical Facilities in South Africa to Sports Stadiums in the USA – it is a fascinating programme not to be missed.
Alongside the Professional Programme the Convention will also give us plenty of opportunity to network with friends and colleagues old and new.
I look forward to seeing you in Vienna